Increasingly Severe in West

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20042, 14 September 1939, Page 7

Increasingly Severe in West

fLLIR? PINTPP ADVANCES forcing Nazis To Weaken past Front HEAVY CASUALTIES IN POLAND BATTLE || 1 s t -; ;i ■ Towns Destroyed As Reprisal On Franc-tireurs ; 4. - • ■■ ■ ■• :■ ■- 1 ' ' ‘ J -’ ' ■' ' (Elec. Tel. Copyright. —United Press Assn.) (Reed. Sept. 13, 2.50 p.m.) , LONDON, Sept. 12. An official night communique issued ill Paris states: “Progress has, been continued on the same front as yesterday with a strong reaction from the enemy, especially artillery. The laconic communique shows that the French are maintaining their local advances in face of increasingly'severe German counter-attacks. The operations have not yet , developed, into a,-major offensive. Under cover of a barrage French troops moved up from both sides of the Moselle River, clearing out German advance posts. The French'have widened their’front in order to force Germany further to weaken her Eastern Front by reinforcing the Rhineland defence. British troops are now landing in France in considerable numbers. The Royal Air Force has been stationed “somewhere in France” for some time with aircraft of the most modern types and members have now settled down into quarters. Base camp’slhave been established near ports. Dumps arc springing up and hospitals arc being prepared. The Palis coTrespoiidcnt of the Associated Press of America states that French motorised units are reported to be driving into the suburbs of Saarbrucken. A'Polish Communique announces that the German forces arc aietive ill the Modlin sector and also along the Ban River, but are not making progress towards Lwow. A German attack west of Warsaw was launched at dawn and resulted in 7000 Polish casualties. ! ‘ A Berlin wireless announcement attacks the defender of Warsaw, General Cznma, for allegedly releasing and arming prisoners from gaols, and for arming civilians, which is described as a “criminal act.” The broadcast 1 adds that the Germans’will treat armed civilians as insurgent combatants. A Stockholm message quotes a correspondent of the paper Svenalca Dagbladet, who toured Silesia and reported that the towns: of Wiiuiezowy.Lututow, Sulejow, Falkon, Prozedborz and Radomak, all on or about -the Pilica River were burned down as a reprisal for the activities of franc-tireurs .(irregular sharpshooters), after the Polish regular troops had retreated. Smaller villages met with the same fate, but Lodz was intact. .m